I, Robot: To Protect (ARC Review)

2035: Susan Calvin is beginning her residency at a Manhattan teaching hospital, where a select group of patients is receiving the latest in diagnostic advancements: tiny nanobots, injected into the spinal fluid, that can unlock and map the human mind.

Soon, Susan begins to notice an ominous chain of events surrounding the patients. When she tries to alert her superiors, she is ignored by those who want to keep the project far from any scrutiny for the sake of their own agenda. But what no one knows is that the very technology to which they have given life is now under the control of those who seek to spread only death...

Dr. Susan Calvin has just graduated from medical school and is starting her residency. Her skills quickly get noticed and she gets selected to help out a pair of researchers with some ground breaking diagnostic technology. Microscopic robots are injected into the spinal column of mentally ill paitents to try and find a cause for their diseases. However, things take a turn for the worse when strange things start happening with the patients. Of course the researchers want everything to be hush hush, but when innocent lives are on the line, Susan is torn over what to do. She'll have to step up quickly or the cost may just be more than she ever could have imagined.

Prior to reading, I, Robot: To Protect, my knowledge of the world behind the story was limited to what I remembered from the movie. I realize that most movies are not completely accurate to the original books they are based on (some don't even come close). However, putting that aside, I definitely had some assumptions about Susan Calvin's characte based on what I saw in the movie. I had expected her to be aloof and somewhat secluded in nature, but this book paints a much different picture. Perhaps that is because this is a prequel and she hasn't been hardened yetby whatever is coming to face her. Granted, the woman is incredibly smart, and that can put some people off as her thinking process is just a little different than most.

The most interesting thing about I, Robot: To Protect, is that it is every bit as much a medical story as it is Sci-fi. You can really tell the author has a medical background as the diagnosises and hospital settings seem very realistic. However, don't let this put you off as everything is presented very well, without once becoming overwhelming from too much medical jargan. To be honest it kind of puts me in mind of the process of elimination for a diagnosis, seen on the TV show, House MD without the crazy head doctor.

As a teenager I loved anything Sci-fi, especially books, but as time went on I moved on to different genres. (Though I will admit to still watching a few good Sci-fi movies here and there.) I, Robot: To Protect was the perfect segway back into my original reading choices as things weren't too far stretched from our own world. While the genre may not be my first pick anymore, books like this will always hold a special place to me. I'm going to recommend this to anyone who likes a book with a good process of deduction, and a very believable world, even if it is a fantasy. I know I will be eagerly anticipating the next installment of this trilogy, as I cannot wait to see what happens next.